The Freedom Foundation presents Heroes & Neighbors, an evening honoring veterans and the community that supports them.
The public is invited to an evening featuring a social hour, plated dinner, recognition of local veterans, a silent auction and 50/50 raffle, a special car presentation to a deserving veteran, and entertainment by comedy mentalist Professor Phelyx.
Jeremy Glazier will also give special remarks during the program in support of the veterans and the Freedom Foundation.
Schedule
5:00 PM – Social Hour 6:00 PM – Plated Dinner 6:30 PM – Entertainment & Presentations Begin
Tickets
Public: $40 Veterans: Free Veteran spouses: $10
Proceeds support the Freedom Foundation and its work providing assistance, resources, fellowship, and support for veterans and their families.
Sponsored in part by The Views Senior Living of Cedar Rapids.
When you listen to the Greyhounds, the cool thing about their sound is the variety of music they draw from when they write. Anthony Farrell’s keyboards bring the funky, R&B, and classic soul flavor, while Andrew Trube has a Texas guitar sound that reminds me of greats like the Vaughan brothers or Doug Sahm. No matter what influences you you hear in their music, you always get the straight forward truth and their distinct style from this amazing duo.
After their show in August at CSPS Hall in the Newbo district of Cedar Rapids,IA, I briefly talked with Anthony, Andrew, and drummer Ed Miles about the album and music. I followed that up a few weeks later with a phone call to the man on guitar, harmonica, vocals, and on occasion, a Melodica, Andrew Trube. He’s laid back, congenial, and like talking to an old friend.
I was curious how Andrew and Anthony meet. I saw the guys playing with JJ Grey, and was curious if that was when they got together?
“We meet in 1999 and I put an add out in LA weekly for a keyboard and he called me and played over the phone. I was his first call, a buddy of his told him you should try and play in a band. You know, he had been playing on the boardwalk, on the beach, and he wanted to join a group and I was the first add he saw and called me. We rehearsed and have been playing ever since.
“So then we meet JJ and Mofro and them years ago on tour and JJ called me and needed guys and called me and asked if we could jump on and that’s how we got in to that. We’d crash on his floor when we’d be in Florida and we’d play a bunch of shows, to nobody for a long time. Back before anyone knew who JJ grey and Mofro were, back when they were just Mofro.” he says as he laughs. “He hired us as a package because we always work together, generally, if somethings going to take us out of town for a little while.”
Andrew and Anthony have a real cool vibe together and I asked what kind of stuff were they playing in the early days before establishing the sound of The Greyhounds.
Photo By Jeremy Glazier
“A lot of it was, when we first started jamming you know, we were getting into The Meters, we were getting into a bunch of New Orleans stuff, a lot of soul groups. It’s all the same stuff were into now but we were doing primarily instrumental stuff. I sang on a couple of tunes and Farrell started singing one tune and I was like, man you need to sing more. You got a great voice. So we just started writing. You know doing instrumental stuff, we were really focusing more on songs and writing little cool melodies but starting out a lot of it was instrumental. Then we were like, ok we need to start singing.”
Did you guys record with JJ or just back him up on the live gigs?
“Oh no we did like 3 or 4 records with him and there’s a live DVD album that we did also. (Brighter Days Live DVD/CD)
During the Cedar Rapids show I took note that Andrew plays a number of old, unique instruments. 3 different Silvertones sat on stage but in the previously discussed DVD album, Brighter Day, he used a Les Paul and I was curious of his weapon of choice.
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“That Silvertone is one I got in high school and it’s been my main guitar for years, that and another one that wasn’t on tour with us on that date. The Les Paul is what I used for Mofro because I needed a little more muscle and those Les Paul’s have more muscle and have a different sound and blended well with the group. And they are a lot easier to travel with than the hollow body.”
Since he mentioned the ease of travel I asked if those Silvertones are tough to maintain and keep going out on the road.
“Oh man, well the one I had (In Cedar Rapids) I gotta take it in after every 3-4 tours to get re situated, intonation goes out. All kinds of stuff happens, little tuning knobs fall off, whatever, just road wear. I got Pete here in town, he’s killer, that does all my repairs.”
I also noticed that he plays slide a bit differently that he takes an overhand approach versus putting a slide on his finger. I was curious if he just learned that way or if there was a practical reason.
Photo by Jeremy Glazier
Photo by Jeremy Glazier
“No you know, I’ve played slide slide like you put on your finger to do the deal and I had this slide, and I loved it, that ended up breaking, it was glass and I never found a replacement. So one day I was playing harmonica and realized I could use that like a slide bar, like a lap steel, overhanded and i kind of got into that. I play lap steel too, and it just worked out. So now I just use that and I don’t use a pick, just because i don’t like holding…you know, it’s the least among of stuff I can worry about having and dealing with the better. I need the harmonica so I just put double duty on it.”
Photo by Lani Vega
In researching the album, Cheyenne Valley Drive, for the review that I wrote over at ink19.com, and from talking to Ed Miles, touring and recording drummer, I discovered that they knocked out the album in 3-5 days.
“Yeah basically my buddy and engineer, Matt Ross-Sprang, hollered at me, he’d been bugging us for a while to come in and do stuff, and we set up a time and Farrell and I went through the catalog of stuff we’d hadn’t recorded that we’d written and thought would be apropos like or be would flow well with the aesthetic of the studio and the recording process of doing it all on tape, and doing it live.
“So, we took 13 or 14 tunes and whittled it down to 10 and did all the tracking on the first day. Then over dubed and got friends to set in like Art Edmaiston on sax, Will Sexton, Amy LaVere, and got all of our friends that were in Memphis that were around to come get in on the record. You know in some form or fashion weather stomping or clapping or playing an acoustic guitar part or whatever. And then we pulled those out and we meet up with Ed before we went to Memphis and rehearsed them with him and went in and knocked it out.”
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I mentioned their cool sound and wanted to know how they got that unique mix of sounds.
“Yeah you talking about the writing process? Yeah basically we just build some drum beats or weird loops… and find a good grove and just start writing off that. Or, I’ll bring a tune in and have Farrell just kind of like, I’ll be like, I got this idea and we’ll just kind of hash it out.
“Now the sound comes from the fact that I grew up in East Texas and he grew up in LA and were both into soul were both into blues and into the same things so its just our interpretation of all those influences all coming together. That’s just what it is. But we don’t ever try to sound like anything we just try to be ourselves. People are smart and they eventually figure out if its bullshit and we try and not waste their time and be straight up with out music.”
Photo by Lani Vega
The Greyhounds are definitely not wasting anyone’s time and after reading this article, I encourage you to get out and see these guys live or pick up any of their albums. They re out on tour now and I’m hoping to catch a show at in Dubuque, IA the second full week of February.
Kentucky has always been a hot bed for great music artists going back to the beginning of country’s roots. Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, Tom T Hall, and Dwight Yoakam are the roots of where country has been, and help lay the foundation on which some of the best music has been built. Luckily for us fans of true country, a new breed of music has been fighting it’s way out of Kentucky and back to the mainstream with big names like Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, and Tyler Childers on the country front and bands like Magnolia Boulevard and The Watson Twins making waves in their own respective genres.
Tony Logue is another up and coming country singer out of Benton, Kentucky with a gift for storytelling and a name that may one day soon be among the ones listed above. He brings his life experiences and ability to tell a story from his heart to his music. Luckily, he saw my article about another Kentucky powerhouse, Magnolia Boulevard, and sent me a link to his music.
Tony’s latest album is titled Serpent’s & Saviors and he made the trip to Nashvile’s House of David to work on the album with producer Brandon Henegar. Tony says “I actually just went in to do a hand full of songs with just me a a guitar. I’m a huge Springsteen fan, so like Springsteen’s Nebraska is my favorite record. We just added a few hand full of things and that’s basically how it went down.”
The album is 11 tracks and Tony pours his Kentucky roots all over each song. It’s hard to pick one but, a few favorites are “Jenny Ridge”, with classic storytelling reminiscent of the classic “Long Black Veil”. “The Girl From Dead Horse Hollow” is a love story which dives head on into a couple fighting the battle against breast cancer. While each song is not directly autobiographical, a song like “Earnhardt” is loosely based around his father in law but written from a father/son perspective.
The themes of hard work and struggle are both present in songs like “The Storm” and “Hanging by a Thread” without being dramatically overwritten. With Tony’s blend of country music you get a story that could have been pulled from the headlines of the local paper, and none of the trappings of “hit country”. He’s not putting in elements to sound good in a country song, he’s writing honest songs that in turn, sound good and resonate with fans of country music.
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When I spoke to Tony on the phone, I could hear in his voice that he’s excited about the prospects that he’s working on, but being a musician is a long hard road. Of his album he says “It’s kind of hard to, just being kind of acoustic it’s kind of hard to market. I don’t know if folks take it very seriously because it’s kind of not a full band or record. I don’t know if folks are going to play it much. It’s been pretty well received and as far as sales… but it’s kind of hard to market. You know it’s a neat project and showcases my songwriting.”
I think that once Tony gets the album out into a few more hands, a lot more people will be playing, and talking about the album. It’s not heavy on instruments but it does showcase Tony, and in my opinion, that’s what this album should be doing for him. He’s not hiding behind layers of instruments or overly produced songs that just offer a beat and a hook to grab your attention. It’s the album that he needs to push into some new areas.
Not yet signed to a label Tony is handling all aspects of his career. He’s married with a family, and still working a regular 9-5, all while pushing hard to get his music off the ground. Luckily he’s got a good partner in his wife Sara and says “My wife is very supportive of what I do and she tries to help me keep rolling, but yeah it’s tough.”
Photo of Tony Logue’s goal log book.
Tony has a few more dates before the end of the year and one really exciting gig is coming up in January. He’s playing Red Barn radio on 1/23/2019 and said “The red barn thing has really grown since Tyler Childer came through there and put out that record. (Live on Red Barn Radio) So I do have that coming up so yeah that’s cool. It’s kind of a right of passage for Kentucky, anybody that’s anybody has played there.”
It will be streamed live the night of the show so luckily, although I’ll be in Iowa, I’ll still get to listen in and hear him make his mark. It’s another in a number of steps to fulfill his goals and I’m anxious to see what next year brings for Tony Logue.
I’ve listed below a number of ways to get to Tony and his music. Check out the new album via soundcloud but also, help support him by grabbing an album or a download through iTunes, Amazon, or any other way you find his music. Shoot him a message and I’m sure he has some CD’s in stock to send out as well.
Growing up in Cedar Rapids in the late 80’s and early 90’s, we had a number of unique places to pick up musical instruments. My buddy Rhett and I would spend a ton of time at Somewhere in Iowa guitars, Carma Lou’s, The Music Loft, and West music. Sometimes we’d hit them all just to see what we could dig up.
Unfortunately, most of the old shops are gone but, hope springs eternal and we are yet to see “mom and pop” call it a day. 965 guitars has brought back the guitar shop feel I remember as a teenager and while you can grab strings or guitar picks, the conversation and interesting stable of equipment and instruments is what will keep you heading back.
Darwin Lindahl originally set up his shop on route 965, thus the name, and serviced the markets between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. He had an opportunity in early 2017 to move the shop into the Newbo district and quickly established himself as a much needed addition to the area.
Photo By Jeremy Glazier
His knowledge of each instruments he stocks is refreshing and he is quick to point out where, how, and what they are made of, and why it matters. While you may find select few “big name” instruments in the shop, the quality and tone of his inventory would give the said “big names” a run for their money for a fraction of the cost. He stocks the shop with instruments that sound and look great and will be more than happy to dive into the subject with whoever walks in the door.
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He’s as proficient with major repairs as he is with a simple fret buff out, or instrument set up to get it into playing shape. His inventory of acoustic or electric guitars, as well as the amplifiers, accessories, ukuleles, will fit most budgets while proving a solid instrument and a great experience for the buyer. And, if you just can’t decide on something that’s in the shop, ask him about making you something custom that will be exactly what you want.
Had I meet Darwin earlier, my guitar collection would probably look much different and, cost me much less that what it did. Whatever your musical needs, get down to 965 in Newbo and see what I’m talking about. You wont be disappointed that you did.
After their show in August at 
